Ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women's sports in the world, with the number of players increasing 350 per cent in the last decade, but there just isn't enough prime ice time for women's hockey in Canada.
"We're not getting any ice time at the rinks that are nearby," Kim McCullough, coach of the Leaside Girls Hockey Association in Toronto told CBC News. "So we're forced to go outside of the community at much more expensive ice at much less desirable times in order to skate."
That ice time cost the association $1 million over five years. When they threatened to launch a human rights complaint against Toronto, the city's mayor got involved.
"That's just not acceptable. It's 2009. It's not 30 years ago. Girls' hockey is extremely popular and girls have a right to play," David Miller told CBC News.
Phyllis Berck, an advocate for women in sports for 20 years, says arena operators should be ashamed of themselves for not giving women the ice time they deserve.
"I think it's insulting to some young women but the good thing is they're getting mad. And they're not going away. They're being very loud about their right to play and their right to ice time."
Gone are the days when hockey was just a boys' game. More and more girls are hitting the ice and following their hockey dreams, say parents watching them play at a rink in Toronto.
"My daughter truly believes she's going to be in the Olympics and she believes she's going off to play in the [National Hockey League]," said Shona Farrelly.
Adds hockey dad Joe March, "This is a double-A game and these girls can out-skate most of the boys."
The battle for ice time is poised to get worse as more and more girls and boys take up the sport. Some observers say it's time for cities like Toronto to start building more rinks to meet the growing demand.
